Thirteen short-line railroad projects were announced Tuesday, totaling $5 million in grants.
Gov. Laura Kelly and Kansas Transportation Secretary Julie Lorenz announced the 13 recipients. In all, 15 miles of track will be built.
Four projects were awarded to short-line railroads and nine projects were awarded to shippers. The program is a 70-30 matching grant, with the state providing 70 percent, and the applicants, 30 percent.
The governorsaid at the news conference that the short-line improvement projects were a major request from rural communities in the state.
The funding for the program is through the state’s bipartisan Eisenhower Legacy Transportation Program.
Adding short-line rail improvements will provide solutions for several problems, according to Lorenz. It will be another choice for shippers, especially in rural areas, and will take some of the heavy truck traffic off the state’s roads, according to Lorenz. For some grain elevators, the short-line railroad is the only method of transportation available, according to Lorenz.
There were no Wyandotte County locations in the grant awards, but Johnson County is listed at $256,163 for major rehabilitation of New Century Air Center Railroad. The awards were mostly in rural areas.
Lorenz said Kansas has another $100 million of railroad projects planned across the state.